The present invention relates to foam dispensing devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to portable foam dispensing devices for dispensing a foamable solution, for example, an antimicrobial solution.
Bulk antimicrobial solution dispensing systems are used by clinicians in the healthcare industry for hand washing and infection control activities. Examples of these bulk antimicrobial solution dispensing systems include Becton Dickinson""s E-Z SCRUB(copyright) Antimicrobial Foam Solution products, and Baxter""s Scrub Care(trademark) liquid solution dispensing system.
Two major areas of the healthcare hand washing market are in the operating room, where surgical scrubbing takes place, and outside of the operating room. In the operating room area, foot pump activated dispensers are utilized because scrubbing procedures do not allow hand activated dispensers, while elsewhere throughout the hospital, hand pump activated dispensers are used. Hand pump activated dispensers also target the growing home healthcare and food handler markets covering a broader range of hand washing markets.
Other hand pump activated foam dispensers currently available in the healthcare and other industries rely on the combined use of a bottle or container holding a foamable solution and a wall mounted bracket. The solution containing bottle assembly contains a foaming device capable of generating a foamed solution only when used in conjunction with the appropriate hand pump wall mounted bracket, thereby limiting the foam dispensers use to locations where such a bracket is installed. In these instances, the wall mounted brackets contain the air delivery mechanisms including a piston, check valve and housing, which often require maintenance over the life of the product. Such maintenance can be time consuming and expensive.
It would be desirable to provide a foam dispensing device that included a disposable, uniquely designed container for use as a xe2x80x9cstand alonexe2x80x9d, hand pump activated, antimicrobial foam dispenser. It would be useful if such a dispensing device was both portable and also capable of being easily mounted to a generally vertical surface.
Accordingly, the present invention generally provides a foam dispensing device comprising a container for holding a foamable liquid and having at least one planar surface, a foam generating piston pump attached to the container to prevent liquid leaking from the container and a dip tube having a first end connected to the piston pump for supplying liquid to the piston pump to generate foam. The dip tube has a second end positioned adjacent the planar surface so that the foam dispensing device can dispense foam when substantially the entire quantity of the liquid has been dispensed from the container when the container is positioned in a first, generally horizontal position, or a second, generally vertical position. Preferably, the piston pump is attached to the container by a threaded connection. The piston pump preferably includes a nozzle capable of being rotated independently of the threaded connection to provide for the directional adjustment of the nozzle. In one embodiment, the foam dispensing device includes means for removably mounting the container to a generally vertical surface.
The present invention provides a portable foam dispensing device that can be used when the device is placed in a generally horizontal position, such as on a table top. The device can also be used when mounted to a generally vertical surface because the dip tube is positioned so that the dip tube draws liquid from the container when the foamable liquid in the container has been substantially emptied.